DELAWARE  COLLEGE  BULLETIN 

VOLUME  3  NEW  SERIES  NUMBER  2 


Published  Quarterly 

NEWARK,  DELAWARE,  JANUARY,  1907 

Agricultural   Education 
in  Delaware. 


AN  ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE 

AGRICULTURAL  CONFERENCE, 

December  19th,  1906, 
BY  HARRY   HAYWARD, 

Professor  of  Agriculture  and  Director  of  the  Experiment  Station. 


Entered  June  22,  1904,  at  Newark,  Delaware,  as  second  class  matter,  under 
|Act  of  Congress  of  July  16,  1894. 


The  John  M.  Rogers  Press,  Wiu,  del. 


Agricultural  Education  in  Delaware, 

An  Address  before  the 

Agricultural  Conference,  Dec*  19,  1906* 

By  HARRY  HAYWARD, 
Professor  of  Agriculture  and  Director  of  the  Experiment  Station* 


It  has  long  been  recognized  that  agriculture  is  the  basis  of 
our  national  wealth.  Without  it,  neither  mining,  lumbering, 
manufacturing,  nor  any  other  industry  could  live.  Agriculture 
was  the  first  industry  of  mankind,  and,  as  long  as  the  earth  is 
inhabited,  it  will  engage  the  energies  of  a  large  proportion  of  the 
human  race. 

It  is  because  agriculture  is  the  great  fundamental  industry 
that  it  has  commanded  the  consideration  of  the  greatest  statesmen 
from  the  earliest  ages  down  to  the  present  time.  In  recent  years, 
the  United  States  has  made  the  most  rapid  advancement  in  agri- 
cultural developments,  and  we,  as  a  nation,  are  justly  proud  of 
our  achievements  in  this  direction. 

While  no  one  can  question  our  greatness  in  agriculture  as  a 
nation,  some  do  not  know,  perhaps,  just  how  important  agricul- 
ture is  in  our  own  State  of  Delaware,  and  what  proportion  of  our 
entire  wealth  comes  directly  from  the  soil. 

According  to  the  last  census,  the  corn  crop  in  this  State  is 
worth  about  two  and  a  half  million  of  dollars;  the  wheat  over  one 
and  one  quarter  million;  dairy  products  a  little  over  one  million; 
live  stock  over  eight  hundred  thousand;  orchard  and  small  fruit 
about  three  quarters  of  a  million ;  and  other  farm  products  sufficient 
to  make  a  grand  total  of  over  nine  million  dollars  annually. 

11  Surely  those  who  carry  on  an  industry  of  such  magnitude, 
and  so  fundamental  to  the  welfare  of  such  a  large  proportion  of 
our  population  should  have,  as  a  matter  of  sound  public  policy, 
all  possible  advantage  in  the  way  of  proper  and  thorough  training 
for  their  occupation  placed  at  their  disposal." 

Possibly  no  industry  has  made  greater  strides  in  practice,  as 
well  as  in  theory,  than  has  agriculture.  This  has  been  brought 
about  by  the  passage  of  the  Morrill  Acts,  which  provided  funds 


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from  the  Federal  treasury  for  education  in  Agriculture  and  the 
Mechanic  Arts,  and  the  passage,  a  little  later,  of  the  Hatch  and 
Adams  Acts,  appropriating  money  to  each  State  and  Territory 
for  Agricultural  Experimentation  and  Demonstration.  These 
funds,  set  aside  by  the  General  Government,  have  been  the 
means  of  making  it  possible  for  the  farmer's  son,  who  has 
a  natural  love  for  a  rural  occupation,  to  study  the  underlying 
scientific  principles  of  agriculture  on  the  one  hand,  and  on 
the  other,  has  attracted  some  of  the  keenest  scientific  minds 
to  the  field  of  Agricultural  investigation  and  research.  In 
nearly  every  instance,  the  Federal  funds  have  been  supple- 
mented by  State  funds.  In  fact,  owing  to  the  conditions  govern- 
ing the  expenditure  of  the  United  States  funds,  supplemental 
State  funds  are  absolutely  essential. 

It  has  been  only  within  the  past  decade  that  the  Agricultural 
colleges  founded  with  the  Morrill  funds  have  been  working  with 
anything  like  their  present  efficiency,  and  one  has  but  to  compare 
our  present  agricultural  prosperity  with  that  of  ten  years  ago  to 
see  that  the  money  used  in  agricultural  education  has  been  well 
spent. 

Advantages  of  Agricultural  Education. 

The  advantages  that  would  result  from  having  a  man  well 
trained  in  agriculture  on  each  farm  can  hardly  be  estimated. 
The  average  yield  of  corn  per  acre  in  Pennsylvania  is  over  fort}' 
bushels,  in  Maryland  thirty-five,  and  in  this  State  but  thirty.  It 
would  not  be  impossible,  with  modern  methods  of  seed  selection  and 
tillage,  to  double  this  amount,  but,  if  it  could  be  increased  but 
twenty-five  per  cent. ,  it  would  add  over  one-half  million  dollars 
to  the  annual  income  of  the  State. 

The  average  yield  of  wheat  in  Delaware  is  sixteen  bushels  per 
acre.  Many  of  our  best  farmers  are  not  satisfied  with  twenty-five 
bushels,  even  on  large  areas.  But  if  the  average  yield  could  be  in- 
creased but  one-third,  it  would  mean  that  nearly  a  half  million 
dollars  would  be  added  annually  to  the  wealth  of  the  State.  Or, 
if  the  yield  could  be  increased  by  but  one  bushel  per  acre  and  sold 
for  seventy  cents,  it  would  increase  the  wealth  of  the  State  over 
$85,000.00  annually. 

Corn  and  wheat  are  mentioned  because  they  are  our  leading 
crops.     Our  other  products  are  just  as  capable  of  being  improved 


as  these,  and  thereby  our  revenues  would  be  increased  hundreds 
of  thousand  of  dollars  per  year. 

To  put  this  matter  more  specifically  and  to  show  how  agricul- 
tural education  may  be  applied;  a  concrete  case  may  be  men- 
tioned. A  few  years  ago,  a  teacher  in  one  of  our  Agricultural 
Colleges  came  in  contact  with  a  farmer  who  was  trying  to  grow 
fruit,  but,  not  being  particularly  well  informed  upon  the  subject, 
was  running  behind  a  little  each  year.  He  was  willing  to  work, 
however,  and  when  the  Professor  had  supplied  him  with  technical 
information  in  regard  to  pruning,  spraying,  cultivating,  packing, 
and  marketing,  he  "caught  on".  To-day,  the  gross  income,  per 
year,  from  his  orchards  is  about  $10,000.00  or  about  ten  times  the 
income  of  the  average  farm  of  his  State. 

If  a  trained  teacher  could  be  put  in  touch  with  other  farmers, 
or  if  the  farmer  himself  were  technically  trained,  it  is  impossible  to 
estimate  what  it  would  mean  to  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the 
State. 

Education  takes  the  Drudgery  out  of  Farm  Life. 

An  education  in  agriculture  means  an  intimate  knowledge  of 
many  different  branches  of  learning.  When  the  farmer's  point  of 
view  is  thus  broadened,  the  satisfaction  that  he  gets  from  being 
master  of  his  calling,  out- weighs  the  material  benefits,  important 
as  they  may  be. 

In  many  cases,  for  instance,  the  work  on  the  farm  is  Jiard, 
because  the  farmer  lacks  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  principles 
of  mechanics,  which  would  enable  him  to  use  pulleys  and  levers 
for  the  hard  work.  Without  knowledge  along  many  lines,  the 
work  is  severe  and  irksome  and,  at  the  first  opportunity,  the 
farmer  leaves  the  farm  for  the  city  or  town  to  engage  in  work  or 
business  in  which  he  has  had  neither  training  nor  experience;  the 
result  is  frequently  disastrous. 

Worst  of  all,  the  boys  brought  up  on  such  a  farm  have  instil- 
led into  their  minds  at  an  early  age  the  idea  that  farming  is  the  last 
occupation  to  be  thought  of,  and,  while  still  in  their  teens,  they 
go  to  the  city,  to  wear  the  number  of  some  corporation,  lose  their 
identity  and,  with  it,  their  freedom  and  independence,  which  is 
the  birth-right  of  every  farmer. 

To  illustrate  some  advantages  of  scientific  farming;  a  few 
years  ago  the  writer  was  called  to  take  charge  of  the  Agricul- 


tural  department  of  a  large  school,  where  the  boys  themselves, 
by  working  two  hours  a  day,  did  most  of  the  work  on  a  thou- 
sand acre  farm.  There  was  a  large  herd  of  dairy  cows  ;  the 
stable,  like  many  stables,  was  dirty,  dark,  and  anything  but  an 
agreeable  place  in  which  to  work.  It  was  difficult  to  get 
boys  to  clean  out  the  stable.  The  boys,  while  faithful  and  honest, 
would  cut  this  work  if  possible.  In  many  instances,  too,  the 
parents  would  write,  stating  that  they  did  not  wish  their  sons  to 
clean  out  stables;  soon  after  the  discovery  that  the  herd  was  badly 
diseased,  the  stables  were  thoroughly  renovated.  Old  ''lean  tos" 
were  torn  down;  cement  floors  were  laid  by  the  boys,  the  number 
of  windows  was  greatly  increased;  an  overhead  track  was  put  up 
in  which  the  stable  litter  was  easily  and  conveniently  removed: 
in  short,  the  sanitary  arrangements  of  the  stable  were  complete. 
The  result  was  that,  instead  of  finding  it  difficult  to  get  boys  to 
clean  the  stables,  they  were  eager  to  get  the  chance.  This  was  also 
true  in  other  farm  departments;  when  the  students  saw  the  suc- 
cessful application  of  scientific  principles  to  practical  farming,  they 
were  eager  to  study  agriculture,  and  our  classes  rapidly  filled. 

One  of  the  great  problems  of  the  time  is  to  keep  the  boys  on 
the  farm.  A  boy  that  is  born  and  brought  up  on  a  farm  has  a 
practical  experience  that  is  worth  a  great  deal  to  him  as  stock  in 
trade.  It  is  worth  so  much  that  he  should  think  twice  before 
giving  up  the  line  of  work  in  which  he  has  been  trained  by 
years  of  practical  experience  and  with  which  he  is  familiar  in  all 
of  its  details.  A  calling  in  which  he  has  risen  from  the  bottom 
to  a  position  where  his  training  is  worth  a  liberal  compensation, 
if  used  either  on  his  own  farm,  or  on  the  farm  of  some  one  else. 
There  never  was  a  time  when  the  demand  for  men  wTith  the 
ability  successfully  to  manage  large  estates  was  so  great  as  now. 
If  then,  the  farm  boy,  instead  of  going  to  the  city  to  begin  at  the 
bottom  of  an  occupation,  of  which  he  knows  nothing,  will  add  a 
technical  training  to  the  experience  he  already  has,  he  will 
naturally  achieve  a  higher  place  in  life. 

If  we  turn  to  those  states  in  which  farming  land  is  selling  for 
from  $75.00  to  $150.00  per  acre,  we  find  that,  with  scarcely  an 
exception,  the  farmer  and  his  sons  and  daughters  appreciate  the 
great  advantages  that  come  from  a  knowledge  of  the  underlying 
principles  of  their  life  work  and  their  agricultural  colleges  are 
running  over  with  young  men  and  women  who  are  preparing 
themselves  for  lives  of  usefulness  on  the  farm.     In  view  of  these 


The  Dairy  Industry  of  Delaware  yields  an  income  of  over  a  million  dollars 

per  year.    Let  us  cultivate  it  and  thus  increase  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and 

hence  the  value  of  our  Agricultural  lands. 


SOIL   LABORATORIES. 

A  Technical  study  of  the  soil  in  the  laboratory,  lends  to  make  "dirt"  more 

attractive  in  the  field. 


9 

facts,  is  it  too  much  to  say,  that,  if  the  farmers  in  this  State  took 
as  much  interest  in  agricultural  education  as  do  the  farmers  in 
some  of  our  other  states,  our  crops  would  be  greater,  and,  in  con- 
sequence, our.  farming  land  would  be  of  greater  value? 

Education,  technical  as  well  as  practical,  in  agriculture  will 
increase  the  income  from  our  farms,  will  increase  the  value  of  farm 
real  estate,  and,  by  putting  farming  as  an  occupation  on  a  level 
with  others  which  require  broad  and  accurate  training,  will  help 
to  keep  the  boy  on  the  farm. 

Competition  in  Agriculture* 

There  are,  moreover,  other  reasons  why  the  farmer  needs  a 
better  preparation  for  his  work  than  he  now  enjoys.  Perhaps  the 
greatest  of  these  is  that  competition  for  the  market,  which  we 
formerly  almost  monopolized,  is  becoming  keener  each  year. 
Cheap  freight  rates  have  opened  our  markets  to  the  great  fields  of 
the  west.  As  a  result,  the  Minnesota  dairyman  is  able  to  place 
his  butter  in  the  New  York  market  by  freight  for  considerably 
less  than  the  Delaware  or  Pennsylvania  dairyman  can  by  express. 
The  wheat  fields  of  far  off  India,  Russia,  and  the  Argentine  are 
factors  in  determining  the  price  that  shall  be  paid  for  the  wheat 
in  our  own  State.  The  day  when  it  was  usual  for  the  eastern 
farmer  to  feed  steers  in  the  winter  has  long  since  passed.  He 
could  not  in  most  cases  compete  with  the  western  feeder.  New 
England  and  the  South  are  competing  with  us  in  the  growing  of 
peaches;  we  find  new  competitors  each  year. 

Some  one  has  well  said  that  "The  revolution  by  which  inven- 
tion and  progress  have  forced  a  re-adjustment  of  industries,  with 
a  better  relation  to  our  natural  resources,  has  wrenched  the 
country  and  twisted  it  into  new  shapes.  It  has  taken  away  the 
farming  industry  from  the  older  states  and  given  it  to  the  newer 
territory  where  soils  are  richer.  The  problem  left  to  the  farmers 
of  the  Middle  States  is  the  difficult  problem  correctly  to  learn  the 
causes  of  the  agricultural  re-adjustment;  to  master  the  qualities 
of  the  old  soil  for  new  crops;  scientifically  to  adapt  the  land  to  the 
new  conditions  brought  by  the  opening  up  of  new  areas  of  superior 
soil.  It  is  a  problem  requiring  a  high  order  of  intelligence  and 
scientific  training  in  farming." 

And  again,  "  wherever  one  finds  executive  ability  and  train- 
ing in  farming  there  is  one  likely  to  see  success,  as  in  any  other 


10 

occupation  of  life.  But  I  wish  to  emphasize  my  general  point 
that  from  the  nature  of  his  occupation,  the  farmer  is  subjected  to 
world  wide  operations  requiring  careful  foresight;  that  the  age  is 
bringing  him  new  adjustments  and  new  problems". 

The  Conditions  To-Day* 

The  fact  is  that  the  old  methods,  no  longer  bring  results, 
because  conditions  have  changed;  systems  of  farming  that  made 
our  forebears  rich  are  out  of  the  question  to-day.  They  not  only 
did  not  have  the  virgin  soil  of  the  unlimited  west  to  compete  with 
in  growing  wheat,  but  the  soil,  which  they  tilled  was  more  fertile 
than  it  is  now.  Again,  not  only  did  the  staples  of  a  generation 
ago  bring  a  higher  price,  but  a  dollar  had  more  purchasing  power 
than  at  the  present  time. 

Whether  we  will  admit  it  or  not,  we  are  in  the  midst  of  a 
process  of  evolution  in  agriculture.  We  are  obliged  to  adjust 
ourselves  to  new  conditions.  The  State  or  individual  that 
can  do  this  successfully  will  find  farming  not  only  a  pleasant 
occupation,  but  one  that  pays  and  pays  well.  And  the  State 
or  individual  that  sets  its  face  against  the  new  order  of 
things  will  surely  find  prosperity  waning  and,  becoming  poorer 
and  poorer,  be  finally  forced  to  the  wall. 

With  our  greatest  staple,  corn,  yielding  but  thirty  bushels 
per  acre  and  our  next  greatest  staple,  wheat,  producing  sixteen 
bushels  per  acre,  and  selling  for  seventy-two  cents,  it  will  be 
readily  seen  that  there  is  need  of  something  being  done,  if  we  are 
to  retain  our  place  in  the  progress  of  the  nation. 

What  is  to  be  done* 

In  looking  for  a  solution  of  the  difficulties,  we  naturally  turn 
for  suggestion  to  other  states  which  are  successfully  solving  their 
agricultural  problems,  to  see  what  they  have  done,  and  to  see  if 
their  methods  can  be  adapted  to  our  conditions. 

Careful  study  shows  that  those  states  in  which  agriculture  is 
the  chief  industry,  are  successfully  meeting  changed  conditions 
by  a  system  of  education  and  experimentation.  Iowa,  through 
the  efforts  of  her  Agricultural  College,  has  increased  the  value  of 
her  corn  crop  millions  of  dollars  each  year.  Wisconsin,  through 
her  Agricultural  College  and  Experiment  Station,  has  developed 


11 

her  dairy  industry  to  such  an  extent  that  it  has  materially  in- 
creased the  price  of  her  farm  land.  Minnesota,  through  the 
efforts  of  one  of  her  Experiment  Stations  workers,  has  produced  a 
new  variety  of  wheat,  particularly  adapted  to  that  state.  The 
result  has  been  worth  millions  of  dollars  to  her  farmers.  Illinois, 
through  her  Station  and  College,  discovered  that  the  composition 
of  corn  could  be  changed  by  selection  in  breeding.  This  single 
discover}7  has  been  worth  to  Illinois  alone  many  times  what  the 
Station  and  College  have  cost. 

In  each  of  these  instances,  the  State  has  been  a  liberal  sup- 
porter of  the  Agricultural  College  and  Experiment  Station.  Not 
only  by  appropriating  money  for  their  use,  but  by  sending  her 
sons  and  daughters  to  be  educated  at  the  College.  The  result  has 
been  that  these  states,  although  a  long  way  from  the  centers  of 
consumption,  are  the  leading  Agricultural  States  of  the  Union. 
Their  farm  lands  are  selling  at  prices  that  to  us  seem  exorbitant. 
Agriculture  is  popular,  and  the  farmer  stands  high  in  all  circles 
of  society.  He  is  well  to  do  and  gives  the  credit  for  much  of  his 
prosperity  to  his  agricultural  college  in  which  he  takes  an  active 
interest. 

What  has  Delaware  done  for  Her  Agricultural  Interests* 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  Agricultural  education  has  done  so 
much  in  other  states  to  help  the  farmers  to  meet  new  conditions, 
is  it  not  a  timely  question  to  ask  what  Delaware  is  doing  in  this 
direction  ? 

By  Agricultural  education  in  this  connection,  we  do  not  in- 
clude the  agricultural  press  or  what  the  farmer  is  doing  to  educate 
himself  by  means  of  the  Grange  and  similar  organizations.  These 
are  agencies  of  great  importance,  and  should  be  encouraged  by 
all  possible  means. 

Outside  of  these,  however,  there  are  two  state  agencies  ;  one 
to  educate  the  farmer  himself,  the  Farmer's  Institute,  the  other 
to  educate  the  farmer's  son,  the  Agricultural  College. 

The  Farmer's  Institute. 

It  is  not  putting  the  case  too  strongly  when  we  say  that,  at 
the  present  time,  the  Farmers'  Institutes  are  doing  as  much  to 
enable  the  farmer  to  keep  abreast  of  the  times  as  any  other  one 


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13 

agency  of  the  State.  They  are  well  organized  and  well  supported 
by  the  farmers.  Much  attention  is  given  by  the  management  to 
the  selection  of  speakers  and  the  final  result  is  gratifying.  The 
State  could  well  afford  to  make  even  more  liberal  appropriations 
to  support  this  great  movement. 

The  Farmers'  Institute,  however,  does  not  and  cannot  take 
the  place  of  the  Agricultural  College,  any  more  than  the  Agricul- 
tural College  would  undertake  to  do  the  work  of  the  Institute. 
The  latter  is  intended  to  bring  the  farmer  up  to  date  in  agricul- 
tural information;  while  the  former  undertakes  to  lay  a  founda- 
tion based  upon  the  scientific  principles  of  agriculture  so  that  the 
student  will  always  have  an  appreciation  of  any  new  discoveries 
in  Agricultural  Science,  and  know  how  to  apply  them  to  his  own 
condition. 

The  Agricultural  College* 

Was  made  a  reality  in  March  1869,  when  the  Legislature 
accepted  an  undivided  half  of  the  property  of  the  Old  Newark 
College.  This  step  was  taken  as  the  only  feasible  one  by  which 
the  State  could  receive  the  benefits  from  the  90,000  acres  of  land 
appropriated  by  the  Morrill  Act  of  1862.  The  acceptance  of  this 
land  on  the  part  of  the  State  carried  with  it  the  obligation  of 
maintaining  the  entity  of  the  fund  derived  from  the  sale  of  the 
land  script  and  guaranteeing  a  fixed  rate  of  interest  upon  it  which 
is  now  six  per  cent.  '  The  purpose  of  the  Morrill  Act  was  to 
establish  in  each  State  and  territory  a  college  of  agriculture  where 
in  should  be  taught  those  branches  of  learning  related  to  agricul- 
ture and  the  Mechanic  Arts,  in  order  to  promote  the  liberal  and 
practical  education  of  the  industrial  classes  in  the  several  pursuits 
and  professions  of  life.' 

By  this  action  on  the  part  of  the  State,  Delaware  College 
not  only  was  transferred  in  part  to  the  State,  and  was  desig- 
nated by  the  State  to  be  the  recipient  of  benefits  from  the 
Morrill  Act,  as  well  as  from  the  Hatch  and  Adams  Act  for  the 
Experiment  Station,  but  half  of  the  trustees  of  the  College 
have  been  appointed  by  the  State  since  1869,  and  the  State  has, 
from  time  to  time,  made  generous  appropriations  to  its  College,  for 
buildings. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  the  College  should  be  considered 
a    State    institution,    the    highest    step    in    our    public    school 


14 

system,  and  its  needs  should  be  carefully  considered  by  the 
Legislature. 

Through  the  liberality  of  the  State,  the  department  of  Me- 
chanic Arts  is  well  equipped  with  laboratories,  shops,  and  draw- 
ing rooms,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  students  attending  the 
College  are  enrolled  in  the  Engineering  courses.  At  graduation, 
these  men  are  eagerly  sought  to  fill  responsible  positions  at 
good  salaries. 

Bearing  in  mind  that  the  Agricultural  College  was  established 
to  give  instruction  in  Agriculture  as  well  as  in  the  Mechanic  Arts, 
we  naturally  ask  what  the  State  has  done  for  Agriculture  com- 
mensurate with  what  she  has  done  for  the  Mechanic  Arts.  To 
the  knowledge  of  the  writer,  the  State  has  never  made  an  appro- 
priation specifically  for  the  Agricultural  department  of  the  College. 
As  a  result,  there  are  no  agricultural  laboratories  that  correspond 
to  the  up-to-date  machine  shop  in  the  department  of  Mechanic 
Arts,  and,  barring  a  little  apparatus  and  a  few  pictures,  there  is 
absolutely  no  equipment  for  teaching  the  principles  which  underlie 
the  greatest  industry  of  the  State,  an  industry  which  engages 
forty  per  cent,  of  our  total  population.  The  agricultural  depart- 
ment of  the  Delaware  College  exists  on  paper,  (it  has  in  fact,  one 
student).  A  department  originally  planned  to  be  of  material 
assistance  to  the  farmers  of  the  State,  has  been  allowed  to  degen- 
erate into  a  mere  name,  without  weight  in  the  institution  itself  or 
influence  in  the  State.  A  department  dead,  and  so  embalmed  by 
indifference  that  only  a  mighty  effort  of  the  combined  agricultural 
interests  of  the  State  can  ever  bring  it  into  useful  life. 

The  agricultural  conditions  of  the  State  so  highly  favored  by 
location  and  climate,  instead  of  looking  up,  are  going  back,  as 
the  census  reports  show  that  the  value  of  our  farming  land  in  1899 
diminished  nearly  half  a  million  dollars. 

What  is  needed* 

It  would  be  unbecoming,  as  well  as  useless,  to  seek  to  place 
the  blame  for  existing  conditions.  We  should  be  more  concerned 
with  the  future  than  we  are  with  the  past.  The  purpose  of  this 
paper  is  to  present  the  needs  of  the  Agricultural  Department  of 
the  College  and  Experiment  Station,  in  the  hope  that  they  will 
appeal  to  the  farmers  of  Delaware  with  such  force  that  they  will 
unite  in  asking  the  present  session  of  the  Legislature  to  appropri- 


,  «i/">^ir  m^H 

yt  Afj 

This  Cow  after  the  picture  was  taken  made  an  official  butter  record 

of  21.5  lbs.  in  seven  days,  and  in  a  single  day  produced  over  34  quarts 

of  milk.     Students  working  with  such  animals  soon  learn  the  value 

of  quality  in  farm  stock. 


An  Education  in  Agriculture  is  unusually  broad  and  comprehensive. 

Forestry  is  an  important  subject  that  has  been  recently  added  to 

agricultural  curricula. 


16 

ate  a  sum  sufficient  to  enable  these  departments  to  do  the  work 
they  should  do  for  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  State. 

To  put  the  Agricultural  Department  of  Delaware  College  in 
a  position  to  give  instruction  in  modern  agriculture,  and  at  the 
same  time  make  it  possible  to  use  the  Experiment  Station  funds 
to  a  much  better  advantage,  does  not  call  for  a  great  outlay  of 
money;  the  small  sum  that  is  necessary  could  be  distributed  over 
a  period  of  years,  so  that  the  expenditure  any  one  year  would  be 
lightly  felt.  The  greatest  need  at  the  present  time  is  a  farm, 
suitably  equipped  for  experimental  work,  as  well  as  for  instruction 
in  agriculture.  It  should  contain  from  125  to  150  acres.  The 
buildings  should  include  barns  suitably  arranged  for  conducting 
experiments  with  all  classes  of  live  stock,  including  poultry, 
a  medium  sized  greenhouse,  and  a  building  adapted  to  experi- 
mental horticulture.  A  small  dairy  building  should  also  be 
included  for  instructional  as  well  as  for  experimental  purposes. 
If  the  farm  and  buildings  were  once  provided  by  the  State,  the 
Government  funds  are  available  to  assist  in  purchasing  equip- 
ment, as  well  as  for  general  maintainance. 

Another  need  is  a  small  appropriation  for  the  further  develop- 
ment of  the  Horticultural  interests  of  the  State.  It  has  been 
thought  that  this  could  be  done  to  the  best  advantage  by  having 
a  well  trained  practical  Horticulturist  come  in  direct  contact  with 
the  fruit  growers,  and  become  familiar  with  the  actual  conditions, 
which  would  put  him  in  a  position  to  give  assistance  in  way  of 
recommendation  in  regard  to  spraying,  tillage,  pruning,  packing, 
marketing,  etc.,  He  should  also  be  able  to  outline  and  conduct 
cooperative  experiments  in  a  way  that  would  be  most  beneficial 
to  the  orchardists.  This  would  tend  to  increase  the  output  of 
fruit  per  acre  of  orchard,  to  lessen  the  cost  of  our  fruit,  to  increase 
the  use  of  uniform  packing  and  packages,  and  thus  to  raise  the 
standard  of  Delaware  fruit,  which  in  time,  would  tend  to  attract 
prospective  fruit  growers  from  other  states,  and  increase  the 
value  of  our  farm  real  estate. 

If  a  small  State  appropriation  were  devoted  to  this  purpose, 
the  Federal  funds,  that  would  naturally  go  to  the  Station  Horti- 
culturist, could  be  used  in  employing  a  strictly  scientific  plant 
investigator,  whose  whole  time  could  be  spent  in  studying  some 
of  the  problems  that  now  confront  the  fruit  grower,  such  as  crown 
gall,  which  has  almost  ruined  the  raspberry  industry  of  the  State, 
the  pear  blight,  and  other  diseases,  which  are  playing  havoc 
with  the  profits  of  our  horticulturists. 


17 
The  State  is  Poor* 

It  may  be  said  that  the  State  is  poor  and,  to  carry  out  this 
plan,  a  large  expenditure  of  money  would  be  required.  In  view  of 
what  has  been  said,  it  will  be  recognized  that  appropriations  to 
carry  out  a  plan  of  this  kind  should  not  be  considered  as  an  ex- 
penditure from  which  no  return  may  be  expected,  but  should  be 
looked  upon  as  an  investment. 

Our  State  is  poor,  but  there  are  other  States  poorer  than  we  are 
by  far  and  still  they  find  it  pays  well  to  support  their  Agricultural 
College.  There  are  four  states,  Arizona,  Idaho,  Nevada,  and  Wyo- 
ming, whose  population  is  less  than  that  of  Delaware.  All  of  these 
in  1905 ,  appropriated  sums  ranging  from  $14,000.00  to  $52,000.00  to 
their  Agricultural  College.  There  are  three  states,  Arizona,  Ne- 
vada, and  Rhode  Island,  in  which  the  value  of  farm  property  and 
the  value  of  farm  products  is  less  than  in  Delaware  and  yet  all 
three  of  these  States  appropriate  sums  ranging  from  $25,000.00 
to  $46,000.00  to  their  Agricultural  College. 

To  supply  these  pressing  needs  of  the  farmer,  about  $25,000.00 
is  needed  for  a  farm  and  equipment,  and  $5,000.00  per  year 
could  be  very  profitably  devoted  to  developing  our  horticultural 
interests. 

This  is  equivalent  to  about  $15.00  per  square  mile  of  territory 
in  the  State  for  the  first  year,  and  about  $2.50  per  square  mile 
per  year  thereafter  for  the  great  cause  of  Agricultural  education. 
Outside  of  the  purchase  of  a  farm,  it  would  mean  an  equivalent  of 
about  one-half  dollar  per  year  for  each  farm  in  the  State;  one-half 
cent  per  acre. 

There  is  still  another  way  of  looking  at  this  subject.  The 
Federal  Government  is  appropriating  $22,000.00  this  year  to  our 
Experiment  Station.  This  amount  will  be  increased  at  the  rate 
of  $2,000.00  each  year  until  it  reaches  $30,000,00.  These  funds 
can  be  used  only  for  Experimental  work.  This  appropriation  from 
the  general  government  presupposes  that  a  farm  has  been  put  at 
the  disposal  of  the  Experiment  Station,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
none  of  these  funds  can  be  used  for  the  purchase  of  land.  Not 
having  any  land  under  control  of  the  College  or  Experiment  Sta- 
tion, it  is  difficult  to  use  this  large  sum  of  money  in  such  a  way  as  to 
be  of  the  maximum  benefit  to  the  State,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
comply  with  the  regulations  concerning  its  expenditure.  If  the 
Experiment  Station  could  have  a  farm  entirely  under  its  control 


18 

for  an  indefinite  period  of  time,  valuable  experiments  in  soil  fertil- 
ity, orcharding,  and  animal  husbandry,  involving  years  of  scienti- 
fic study,  could  be  commenced.  From  these  experiments  the 
farmers  should  receive  untold  benefits. 

It  is  readily  seen  that  a  farm,  well  equipped  and  under  the 
control  of  the  college,  would  be  of  great  service  to  the  State  in 
getting  the  maximum  benefit  from  the  Experiment  Station  funds. 
It  is  not  quite  readily  understood  perhaps,  just  how  a  farm  would 
serve  the  purposes  of  the  College  and  the  students  who  take  the 
courses  in  Agriculture. 

In  a  broad  sense,  a  farm  to  an  Agricultural  Department  of  a 
College  is  what  a  machine  shop  is  to  the  Department  of  Mechani- 
cal Engineering.  It  serves  to  illustrate  the  principles  taught  by 
the  text  book  in  the  class  rooms.  While  the  principles  of  soil 
fertility  can  be  taught  in  a  class  room,  a  farm  where  the  students 
can  actually  see  the  effect  of  different  fertilizers  under  similar 
conditions,  is  just  as  essential  as  the  text  book.  In  teaching  Hor- 
ticulture, the  more  practice  the  student  has  in  pruning,  spraying, 
packing,  etc.,  under  the  eye  of  a  competent  instructor,  the  more 
efficient  will  he  be  when  he  leaves  the  college  to  make  his  own 
way  in  the  world. 

Animal  Husbandry  is  another  subject  that  can  be  taught  only 
by  the  use  of  the  animals  themselves  in  the  class  rooms.  It  is 
impossible  to  have  animals  of  the  various  classes  at  the  command 
of  the  teacher  for  students'  use  without  a  farm  upon  which  they 
can  be  maintained.  Again,  the  study  of  farm  machinery  can  not 
be  successfully  taught  without  actually  demonstrating  the  use  of 
the  different  types  of  machines,  and  these  demonstrations  require 
a  farm.  It  is  hoped  that  from  these  facts  it  has  been  shown  that  a 
farm  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  equipment  of  a  modern 
Agricultural  College. 

Aside  from  its  value  as  a  place  for  demonstrations,  it  has 
another  value  that  is  difficult  to  estimate;  that  is  in  serving  as  a 
source  of  inspiration  to  the  student  during  his  college  course. 
The  College  farm,  if  properly  conducted,  will  keep  agricultural 
students  filled  with  enthusiasm,  and  by  so  doing,  will  aid  materi- 
ally in  sending  them  back  to  the  farm,  to  take  the  place  that 
their  fathers  are  leaving  vacant. 

The  college  farm  will  serve  still  another  purpose  in  educating 
the  Delaware  boy.  Unless  times  have  changed  very  materially 
since  the  writer  was  a  college  student,  many  of  the  young  men 


19 

from  the  farm,  who  will  come  to  Delaware  College  for  a  train- 
ing in  agriculture,  will  be  poor,  and  will  be  obliged  in  a  measure, 
at  least,  to  work  their  way  through  college.  We  sometimes 
think  that  it  is  unfortunate  that  farm  work  must  be  done  every 
day  in  the  year,  but  on  the  college  farm  it  would  always  afford 
an  opportunity  for  some  worthy  student  to  help  support  himself 
while  pursuing  his  studies. 

A  college  farm  should  appeal  to  every  farmer  in  the  State 
from  another  and  a  more  selfish  point  of  view;  that  of  direct 
assistance.  A  farm  owned  by  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  State, 
should  be  conducted  in  the  most  approved  manner.  When  a 
farmer  wishes  to  see  the  latest  farm  labor  saving  device,  he  should 
be  able  to  find  it  in  operation  on  the  College  farm,  and  judge 
from  an  actual  demonstration  whether  it  is  adapted  to  his  con- 
ditions. From  the  college  farm,  the  farmers  should  be  able  to 
obtain  seeds,  roots  and  new  plants  that  have  been  determined  to  be 
of  economic  value  to  our  State.  The  college  farm  should  also  be 
able  to  supply  seed  corn  and  seed  wheat,  as  well  as  seeds  of  other  crops 
of  those  varieties  that  are  especially  adapted  to  Delaware  condi- 
tions. The  surplus  male  animals  could  be  loaned  for  the  benefit 
of  the  farmers  who  would  be  asked  to  keep  certain  records  of 
improvements  made  by  such  animals. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  many  ways  in  which  a  college  farm 
would  be  of  benefit  to  the  Agricultural  interests  of  the  State. 
Whether  or  not  this  farm  will  become  a  reality  and  begin  its 
important  work  next  spring  depends  entirely  upon  the  farmers 
themselves.  If  they  do  not  ask  for  it,  it  surely  will  not  thrust 
itself  upon  them.  It  seems,  however,  that  the  farmers  of  Dela- 
ware have  waited  long  enough  for  a  college  farm.  If  they  want 
an  Agricultural  College  that  will  do  its  part  in  the  development  of 
the  farming  interests  of  the  State,  let  them  unite  in  asking  the 
coming  session  of  the  Legislature  for  the  most  needed  part  of  its 
equipment ;  a  farm.  The  request  is  a  reasonable  one  and  will 
not  be  refused. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


3  0112110180798 


